Post Office phone customers face price hikes of up to £42/yr - MSE News

Former_MSE_Naomi

The Post Office has announced that it will be raising the prices of some call plans and landline calls in November, with some customers facing increases of up to £42/yr...

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'Post Office phone customers face price hikes of up to £42/yr'

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Grumpy_chap

I have just seen this and received an e-mail from Post Office Telecoms that my line rental will increase by 30% from 2nd November and call charges increase by 20%.  This is an entirely outrageous level of increase so far above inflation.

I only moved to PO Telecoms in February because they had a competitive offering and am in a 12-month minimum term contract.  I have called PO Telecoms to complain and been told that they will release me from the contract if I choose, but they 'own' my landline telephone number for the minimum 12 months so if I go elsewhere the new provider will need to provide me with a new number.

Price increases during fixed term contract are outrageous.  I might be more tolerant of the price change if it was a more reasonable level, say 2% max given current inflation rates, but 30% is an absolute outrage and holding my number hostage is ridiculous.

What is the next step, or do I have to really just take this hit?

InBodWeTrust

They own your number? Really? I suggest a complaint to OFCOM may be in order - they obtained the number on a contractual basis; they are the ones now seeking to breach that contract.

Grumpy_chap

I don't think it is correct there can be mid-contract price increases (but that seems to be common).  I looked up the ofcom site and it says the mid-contract price rise is allowed if they give you the opportunity to cancel without penalty.  Which makes a mockery of having fixed-term contracts.
I could maybe be more tolerant of that if the increase was in-line with inflation, but in the current climate 30% is just outrageous!  Are there no rules on this type of thing?
If I tried this the other way round and simply paid 30% less after giving a month's notice, I would lose my service and be pursued for the debt.

phillw

Grumpy_chap said:

I don't think it is correct there can be mid-contract price increases (but that seems to be common). 

It used to be common a few years ago, you could look when companies increased their prices each year and switch to them, get cashback and then switch again. I made a profit from broadband for a while, I wish they would go back to putting prices up mid contract. I received this email from the post office: "We wanted to let you know that from 2 November 2020, the price of some of our services including calls to UK landlines and call plans will be increasing. You’ll find further information and detail on our changes that affect you here.

Note: Good news, your Unlimited Broadband - 12 month contract monthly rental charge will not be changing. Any introductory or loyalty offers you have will remain the same until the end of the offer period." So my advice for the OP would be to re-read what they say and if they are increasing your contract then phone back and double check that your contract will increase, as they may have received the wrong information. If they agree it's incorrect then raise a complaint about being given incorrect information. If they say your contract price will increase then raise a complaint about the advice about PO preventing you from porting the number. Tell them that this is a penalty and ofcom rules prevents them penalising you for leaving after they increased the prices. Ask them to confirm whether PO are going to prevent you from porting, or whether you were given incorrect advice by the previous customer service agent. Then whatever the answer raise a complaint. If they still insist that they will prevent you from porting the phone number then ask for a deadlock letter to give to the ombudsman. If they are hiking the contract price, I would switch away and let the ombudsman deal with it. I really don't care if my phone number changes though, but I'd push for compensation if they changed it. I will be affected by the uk landline call price increase from 15p to 18p per minute, which does also allow me out of the contract without penalty. If I find a cheaper deal (factoring in any cashback) then I will be switching & I will be porting my number.

Grumpy_chap

My monthly rate is increasing from £11.50 to £15 plus the increase in call rates.  30% uplift is outrageous.

phillw

Grumpy_chap said:

My monthly rate is increasing from £11.50 to £15 plus the increase in call rates.  30% uplift is outrageous.

Mine was already slightly over £15 a month, so I guess they can't justify the good deal you had anymore. The way I look at it is you only got the deal because you happened to be out of contract and clicked on a button on a particular day when it was cheap, if they want to back out of it later and let you leave penalty free then it's fair game.

I just informed them I'm exercising my right to leave and that I will be instructing a new provider to take the line over. They were fine with it. I'm kinda glad to be switching away as my broadband has been unreliable since I joined them.

I'm going to give shell energy fibre a go, I didn't mind 2mb adsl when it was £5 a month (or less) but with fibre for the first year around the same price as adsl then it really makes no sense at all.

ShermanPotter

Say what you will about TalkTalk - but they are considerably cheaper than BT - even more so now !

JJ_Egan

How cheap is cheap ??

Grumpy_chap

It seems to be a fundamentally flawed system, where you shop around and pick the most competitive deal to meet your needs and agree the 12-month contract (which ties the individual in).  Then, at any point, the provider can implement a price-increase and all they are obliged (by the regulator) to do is give you the option to terminate early and release you of the early termination penalty.  It makes a total mockery of the contract period being there at all in the first place.

On top of that, increases in rates at punitive levels of 30% are simply wrong and should not be allowed.

phillw

On top of that, increases in rates at punitive levels of 30% are simply wrong and should not be allowed.

I don't think throwing words like punitive will get you far in your negotiating. You had a 30% discount for six months and now they are taking it away. Its annoying I'm sure, but if you say they can never take it away quickly then they will just never take the risk of giving them. I also disagree with preventing them from changing anything, because it saves you money when they do (I made a profit from broadband a few years ago). I would switch to a provider offering the largest cash back and pray they change anything to let you switch to another (as long as its after the cash back has been paid)